Alison Flowers
@alisonflowers.bsky.social
Investigative journalist in Chicago. Pulitzer + Peabody 2024. Somebody podcast creator. Founder @ Spiralbound. Formerly @invisible.institute
spiralbound.productions.
www.alisonflowers.com
alison@spiralbound.co
spiralbound.productions.
www.alisonflowers.com
alison@spiralbound.co
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.”
Can we at least share the value that people deserve to eat?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/u...
Can we at least share the value that people deserve to eat?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/u...
Food Banks Brace for Overwhelming Demand as SNAP Cutoff Looms
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.”
Can we at least share the value that people deserve to eat?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/u...
Can we at least share the value that people deserve to eat?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/u...
Front page in today’s Tribune, my latest with Gregory Royal Pratt. For this story we spoke to four moms who lost their kids to gun violence as well as Asha Gant, a survivor of human trafficking.
@royalpratt.bsky.social
@chicagotribune.com
@royalpratt.bsky.social
@chicagotribune.com
Prominent activist turned politician faces new scrutiny as lawsuit alleges sexual assault of teenage girl
A survivor of sex trafficking has sued anti-violence activist and Dolton trustee Andrew Holmes, alleging he sexually assaulted her at age 16.
www.chicagotribune.com
September 28, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Front page in today’s Tribune, my latest with Gregory Royal Pratt. For this story we spoke to four moms who lost their kids to gun violence as well as Asha Gant, a survivor of human trafficking.
@royalpratt.bsky.social
@chicagotribune.com
@royalpratt.bsky.social
@chicagotribune.com
Reposted by Alison Flowers
Our latest story about prominent Chicago activist turned politician Andrew Holmes, who is facing new scrutiny as lawsuit alleges sexual assault of teenage girl. Also details how some families felt exploited. With @alisonflowers.bsky.social @chicagotribune.com
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/28/a...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/28/a...
Prominent activist turned politician faces new scrutiny as lawsuit alleges sexual assault of teenage girl
A survivor of sex trafficking has sued anti-violence activist and Dolton trustee Andrew Holmes, alleging he sexually assaulted her at age 16.
www.chicagotribune.com
September 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Our latest story about prominent Chicago activist turned politician Andrew Holmes, who is facing new scrutiny as lawsuit alleges sexual assault of teenage girl. Also details how some families felt exploited. With @alisonflowers.bsky.social @chicagotribune.com
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/28/a...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/28/a...
If you’d like to learn more about Robert Johnson’s case, and about how wrongful convictions happen in general, this is a powerful podcast episode that is about as granular as it gets. Well done, Robert and the Exoneration Project’s Lauren Myerscough-Mueller! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5...
#534 Ben Bowlin with Robert Johnson
Podcast Episode · Wrongful Conviction · 07/17/2025 · 35m
podcasts.apple.com
July 17, 2025 at 9:46 PM
If you’d like to learn more about Robert Johnson’s case, and about how wrongful convictions happen in general, this is a powerful podcast episode that is about as granular as it gets. Well done, Robert and the Exoneration Project’s Lauren Myerscough-Mueller! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5...
What a powerful experience to present w/ Robert Johnson at @medillschool.bsky.social Midwest Solutions Journalism Summer Summit. A far cry from the Hill Correctional Center interview room.
Thank you @debofficially.bsky.social + @amberpayne.bsky.social. And esp to Robert for sharing his survival.
Thank you @debofficially.bsky.social + @amberpayne.bsky.social. And esp to Robert for sharing his survival.
June 30, 2025 at 6:51 PM
What a powerful experience to present w/ Robert Johnson at @medillschool.bsky.social Midwest Solutions Journalism Summer Summit. A far cry from the Hill Correctional Center interview room.
Thank you @debofficially.bsky.social + @amberpayne.bsky.social. And esp to Robert for sharing his survival.
Thank you @debofficially.bsky.social + @amberpayne.bsky.social. And esp to Robert for sharing his survival.
Robert Johnson and I are excited to join this summit at Medill this Friday! See you there @ 303 E Wacker 🙌
June 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Robert Johnson and I are excited to join this summit at Medill this Friday! See you there @ 303 E Wacker 🙌
Ready to transform conflict into constructive change? Join us at the Medill Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub Summer Summit 6/27 in Chicago. From deep listening techniques to investigative solutions reporting, discover how journalism can be a force for meaningful impact.
Summer Summit
The Medill Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub invites journalists and media professionals to join our transformative Summer Summit.
www.eventbrite.com
May 30, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Ready to transform conflict into constructive change? Join us at the Medill Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub Summer Summit 6/27 in Chicago. From deep listening techniques to investigative solutions reporting, discover how journalism can be a force for meaningful impact.
Reposted by Alison Flowers
Really important thread on persecution of scientists and immigrants and a woman who is both.
🧵 🧪 This is my 3rd thread on the incarceration of computational scientist and microscopist Kesenii Petrova, and it’s intended for journalists covering the story. I want to say more about the frogs she’s accused of smuggling. Other biologists please chime in.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Harvard scientist facing deportation is charged with smuggling
Federal prosecutors allege Kseniia Petrova violated customs law by failing to declare preserved frog embryos in her luggage, in a case that's raised questions over her detention.
www.nbcnews.com
May 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Really important thread on persecution of scientists and immigrants and a woman who is both.
Last week, Robert Johnson was in a prison cell. Now he’s free, after almost 30 years, riding on the Ferris wheel high above the City of Chicago.
February 27, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Last week, Robert Johnson was in a prison cell. Now he’s free, after almost 30 years, riding on the Ferris wheel high above the City of Chicago.
“I didn’t think this night was going to happen. They had me in their chains for 28 years and 10 months of my life for something I didn’t have nothing to do with.”
Robert Johnson is Free / Full Livestream
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-man-robert-johnson-has-conviction-1996-murder-eddie-binion-vacated-serving-30-years-prison/15938262/
vimeo.com
February 22, 2025 at 2:22 AM
“I didn’t think this night was going to happen. They had me in their chains for 28 years and 10 months of my life for something I didn’t have nothing to do with.”
The judge vacated Robert Johnson’s conviction!
His grandmother Mary Robinson said: “Thank you Lord. You did good. You did good.”
We are hopeful he will be released tomorrow after another hearing.
His grandmother Mary Robinson said: “Thank you Lord. You did good. You did good.”
We are hopeful he will be released tomorrow after another hearing.
February 19, 2025 at 7:26 PM
The judge vacated Robert Johnson’s conviction!
His grandmother Mary Robinson said: “Thank you Lord. You did good. You did good.”
We are hopeful he will be released tomorrow after another hearing.
His grandmother Mary Robinson said: “Thank you Lord. You did good. You did good.”
We are hopeful he will be released tomorrow after another hearing.
Part Two: There’s A Delicate Alchemy to Overturning A Wrongful Conviction.
Photo of Robert Johnson, his family and a blurb from his letter to me which I read ar the end of the Interview.
www.wbez.org/curious-city...
Photo of Robert Johnson, his family and a blurb from his letter to me which I read ar the end of the Interview.
www.wbez.org/curious-city...
February 14, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Part Two: There’s A Delicate Alchemy to Overturning A Wrongful Conviction.
Photo of Robert Johnson, his family and a blurb from his letter to me which I read ar the end of the Interview.
www.wbez.org/curious-city...
Photo of Robert Johnson, his family and a blurb from his letter to me which I read ar the end of the Interview.
www.wbez.org/curious-city...
Next Wednesday, we hope, Robert Johnson will finally walk free after 30 years behind bars for crime he did not commit. On WBEZ’s Curious City, we tackle the question of why. Why — when everyone always knew Robert was innocent — has it taken so long? www.wbez.org/curious-city... @invisible.institute
Why does it take so long to free an innocent person from prison? The case of Robert Johnson.
Now, three decades after his arrest, a judge will decide whether to release Robert Johnson later this month.
www.wbez.org
February 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Next Wednesday, we hope, Robert Johnson will finally walk free after 30 years behind bars for crime he did not commit. On WBEZ’s Curious City, we tackle the question of why. Why — when everyone always knew Robert was innocent — has it taken so long? www.wbez.org/curious-city... @invisible.institute
Reposted by Alison Flowers
If only the New York Times had written headlines this clear and direct before the election.
November 26, 2024 at 3:44 AM
If only the New York Times had written headlines this clear and direct before the election.
Reposted by Alison Flowers
'For generations, scholars argued that white women were rarely involved in the active buying and selling of Black people. A growing body of research says otherwise.'
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/u...
White Women Were Active in the American Slave Trade, Statistical Research Shows (Gift Article)
For generations, scholars argued that white women were rarely involved in the active buying and selling of Black people. A growing body of research says otherwise.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2024 at 8:37 PM
'For generations, scholars argued that white women were rarely involved in the active buying and selling of Black people. A growing body of research says otherwise.'
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/u...
Reposted by Alison Flowers
another woman is dead because doctors refused to give her standard medical care AFTER SHE ALREADY MISCARRIED. abortion bans are killing women even if they don’t need one. porsha ngumezi should be alive.
A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments.
Thirty-five-year-old Porsha Ngumezi’s case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.
www.propublica.org
November 25, 2024 at 1:52 PM
another woman is dead because doctors refused to give her standard medical care AFTER SHE ALREADY MISCARRIED. abortion bans are killing women even if they don’t need one. porsha ngumezi should be alive.
In 2011, a lawyer told me Jennifer Del Prete’s case was the one that kept her up at night. A mom and daycare worker sentenced in 2005 for murder under the debunked diagnosis of shaken-baby syndrome.
Today, after more than 20 years, a judge granted her a certificate of innocence, clearing her name.
Today, after more than 20 years, a judge granted her a certificate of innocence, clearing her name.
November 19, 2024 at 12:13 AM
In 2011, a lawyer told me Jennifer Del Prete’s case was the one that kept her up at night. A mom and daycare worker sentenced in 2005 for murder under the debunked diagnosis of shaken-baby syndrome.
Today, after more than 20 years, a judge granted her a certificate of innocence, clearing her name.
Today, after more than 20 years, a judge granted her a certificate of innocence, clearing her name.
Reposted by Alison Flowers
Am I alone in feeling this is scary high for being a “low” level of support for state violence? A Gallup study says support for death penalty in U.S. is at its *lowest* level in five decades at 53%. www.newsnationnow.com/crime/suppor...
November 17, 2024 at 8:57 PM
Am I alone in feeling this is scary high for being a “low” level of support for state violence? A Gallup study says support for death penalty in U.S. is at its *lowest* level in five decades at 53%. www.newsnationnow.com/crime/suppor...